Taken on a little island that was once a granite quarry in front of the little harbor of Vinalhaven.
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It's Mara
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The Story
Hi Folks! Here's the story straight from the horse's mouth:
August 29 I stumbled over a word. It wasn't a big deal but I noticed. Then on Thursday night (August 30) David and I left on a fabulous long weekend in Syria. Friday we left Damascus for Palmyra. It was really hot. That day I stumbled over a couple words too -- it stood out to me since I never do that....
Saturday we walked all over Palmyra and I was really suffering from heat, or so I thought. I felt like I was making lots of mistakes in my speech -- but David didn't notice. Then I noticed that I had a small numb spot on my scalp behind my right ear. Strange, strange, strange. On Sunday, back in Damascus, the speech got worse (comegranite instread of pomegranite, etc.). By the end of the day I really felt like I was having trouble simply getting sentences out that were in my head. I couldn't make small talk with strangers (imagine that for me!) -- it was stressfull.
When I got home Sunday night I wrote my melanoma oncologist and he said I should immediately get an MRI. So Monday morning by 8:30 AM our fabulous health unit in Amman had me in a an MRI machine. By 9:30 I was out and found that I had metastatic cancer lesions (tumors) on multiple sites in my brain. Most notably, a frontal left lobe that deals with oral expression (the largest at about 1.8 cm). I also have one on the base of my brain where it connects to the spine, which may or may not have to do with the scalp numbness.
So -- Monday was a fabulous day in the hospital in Amman where practically everyone I have worked or played with in the past year came to visit -- it was a big party! By the next morning I was on a plane back to New York, accompanied by the Embassy's excellent doctor -- Curt Hofer. Tuesday night we arrived in New York and took a taxi directly to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hospital where we met my mother and oncologist. The past week in New York has blown by with tests and doctors and museums. David arrived from Amman on Sunday, September 9, and is going to be able to spend a month in the States (actually, we had a vacation planned now...).
So -- that's the beef. No headaches. No stroke-like symptoms. Just speech problems. In the last week the numbness on the right side of my head has covered my ear, jaw and moved down my neck and right arm. But as you will see from the blog -- treatment has begun so I hope it will all get better soon.
The plan: three weeks of full brain radiation (with weekends off). That is about all I know. There will be a plan afterward but we have to wait and see what this does before we decide. I still have a number of melanoma "freckles" on the skin of my chest -- so those have to be dealt with. I will keep you all updated regularly through this site!
August 29 I stumbled over a word. It wasn't a big deal but I noticed. Then on Thursday night (August 30) David and I left on a fabulous long weekend in Syria. Friday we left Damascus for Palmyra. It was really hot. That day I stumbled over a couple words too -- it stood out to me since I never do that....
Saturday we walked all over Palmyra and I was really suffering from heat, or so I thought. I felt like I was making lots of mistakes in my speech -- but David didn't notice. Then I noticed that I had a small numb spot on my scalp behind my right ear. Strange, strange, strange. On Sunday, back in Damascus, the speech got worse (comegranite instread of pomegranite, etc.). By the end of the day I really felt like I was having trouble simply getting sentences out that were in my head. I couldn't make small talk with strangers (imagine that for me!) -- it was stressfull.
When I got home Sunday night I wrote my melanoma oncologist and he said I should immediately get an MRI. So Monday morning by 8:30 AM our fabulous health unit in Amman had me in a an MRI machine. By 9:30 I was out and found that I had metastatic cancer lesions (tumors) on multiple sites in my brain. Most notably, a frontal left lobe that deals with oral expression (the largest at about 1.8 cm). I also have one on the base of my brain where it connects to the spine, which may or may not have to do with the scalp numbness.
So -- Monday was a fabulous day in the hospital in Amman where practically everyone I have worked or played with in the past year came to visit -- it was a big party! By the next morning I was on a plane back to New York, accompanied by the Embassy's excellent doctor -- Curt Hofer. Tuesday night we arrived in New York and took a taxi directly to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hospital where we met my mother and oncologist. The past week in New York has blown by with tests and doctors and museums. David arrived from Amman on Sunday, September 9, and is going to be able to spend a month in the States (actually, we had a vacation planned now...).
So -- that's the beef. No headaches. No stroke-like symptoms. Just speech problems. In the last week the numbness on the right side of my head has covered my ear, jaw and moved down my neck and right arm. But as you will see from the blog -- treatment has begun so I hope it will all get better soon.
The plan: three weeks of full brain radiation (with weekends off). That is about all I know. There will be a plan afterward but we have to wait and see what this does before we decide. I still have a number of melanoma "freckles" on the skin of my chest -- so those have to be dealt with. I will keep you all updated regularly through this site!
3 comments:
Dear David,
Thank you so much for continuing to post the beautiful photos of Mara - and you - in beautiful places all over the world. I think you two lived about three lifetimes in your three short years together. I know that doesn't make her loss any easier to bear, but your and Mara's evident joy and happiness in all these photos makes us at least remember her as she was - full of more life then anyone I ever knew.
For Carol - I read your dove story on Mara's birthday, and it brought me such a sense of peace about her. I've got my own "dove" story around my mother's death, although mine - fittingly - contains a butterfly, a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.
I truly believe that these gentle creatures appearing after recent deaths - doves, hummingbirds, butterflys - appear in order to comfort the living. "Sent" by what/whom doesn't really matter - it's the comfort that does.
I still don't believe in any kind of sentient or directed god out there monitoring the everyday doings of us humans. I just know that, as Bunyeta said, there are many things beyond our usual consciousness that I think point to a realm of spirituality that we are occasionally granted entry into. One takes what one can from these (seemingly) random acts of connection and consolation.
Shalom,
Lisa
David, Lisa said it beautifully and I reaffirm her words. Thanks for this extraordinary document of Mara's vibrant life, and of your lives entwined.
David, thank you for continuing to share your life with Mara with us. She is beautiful. She is happy and radiating with joy.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Carol, the dove story is one that sticks with me. I think of it so often these days. I want to believe.
Karen
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